While the average AAA title now launches at $70 and graphics cards capable of running them properly still cost over $600, the actual expense of a serious gaming habit has paradoxically dropped to historic lows.
The industry transformed from a hardware-obsessed money pit into an ecosystem where subscription services offer hundreds of titles for pocket change, online sales slash prices by 80% within months, and savvy players actually profit from their hobby through streaming, tournaments, or virtual economies.

The tools are everywhere - you just need to know how to use them properly.

Shop the Secondhand Market for 50-70% Savings
Physical copies lose value incredibly fast, with $70 releases dropping to $25 on Facebook Marketplace within three months of launch. This price crash creates major opportunities for patient players, especially since consoles follow the same pattern - a nicely preserved PS5 with extra controllers and games regularly surface for $350 when people need quick cash or lose interest overnight.

If you're a calculating buyer, renting from GameFly to test games before spending, hunting for deals on r/GameSale, or buying certified hardware from Decluttr with warranties feels like standard procedure.

Some push it further by entering competitions, where local tournaments and online groups give away everything from games to entire setups. Corsair, Razer, MSI, and other brands run weekly giveaways, while streamers raffle off sponsored gear to viewers all the time.
These contests get lost in your feed or end before you spot them, but you can start from here and see them all organized without scrolling forever. This turns luck into a numbers game - entering twenty competitions takes five minutes when they're all in one place, and your odds are surprisingly favorable when most draws only get a few hundred entries for $500+ prizes. Keeping tabs on entries and results helps avoid missed prizes or wasted time on closed contests.

Tracking competitions can land you new titles, though the faster way to fund your next purchase is by selling what you have already finished, so let's move forward into the resale market.

Best Places to Sell Your Physical Games
Most gamers overlook the value sitting on their shelves. A game you finished six months ago and left untouched can still bring $20-$40 with the right buyer. While GameStop has built its reputation on trade-ins, the payouts are consistently low, often offering less than a quarter of the resale value.
The smarter move is peer-to-peer platforms. Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, and OfferUp give you direct negotiation and instant cash, with people often paying close to retail.

eBay brings a different scale, connecting you with a global audience. In the second quarter of 2025, it moved $19.5 billion in goods, up 6% from the year before, showing that demand for second-hand items is still climbing. For sellers, that means more visibility and stronger returns than any trade-in counter.

Stream Everything, Own Nothing, Save Hundreds
Monthly subscriptions flipped the entire model - $15 now gets you hundreds of titles instead of one-quarter of a single game. Game Pass alone hit 34 million subscribers, forcing Sony and Ubisoft to compete with their own services, and this whole sector already generates $19 billion annually as everyone chases that steady monthly income.

But the real disruption comes from cloud streaming. GeForce NOW, Luna, and Xbox let you play demanding titles on ancient laptops, phones, or smart TVs without buying new hardware ever again. Industry projections show this market hitting $19.18 billion by 2030, which reflects the fact that most people would rather pay Netflix prices for instant access than drop thousands on gaming rigs.
What was once an expensive hobby is fast becoming one of the cheapest - mirroring the same shift that turned film and music into on-demand industries.